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I stopped using AI-images as social media thumbnails since a) they take a surprising amount of effort in order to make distinct and non-generic with techniques such as ControlNet [e.g. https://minimaxir.com/2023/03/new-chatgpt-overlord/featured....] and b) thumbnails don't matter anymore for personal blogs since social media sharing of links is dead.

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What do you mean by dead?

I'm not sure if it's the whole social media, but X (formerly Twitter) now discourage you to share links. Yes, apparently attaching a URL will rank you lower in algorithm.

X/Twitter is the confirmed case, but even others sites have dropped referrals dramatically as algorithms shift.

There's a reason everyone is pushing direct-to-email newsletters.

LinkedIn is also known for down-ranking posts with links. That's why you'll see people posting a URL in a separate comment on their own post.

These social networks are "on the Internet" but they are not "on the Web". The Web is strengthened through linking.

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